In a roundtable discussion at PC Expo, panelists from Intel, Compaq, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Gateway and Sony foresaw both these possibilities, and more.

Sony, a company that launched its first PC for the US market at PC Expo, anticipates becoming "a leader" in the consumer "PC TV" category, said Sony's Timothy Errington.

Other panelists disagreed, however, over whether home users will be willing to view and "interact with" entertainment aired on a computer screen.

"When I lie down on a couch, I want to see TV," asserted Intel's Michael Aymar "I don't think we really understand yet what people would want to watch on a PC."

Concurred James Firestone of IBM: "I agree that there are different things (that people do) on a PC and a TV. Have you ever tried balancing your checkbook in the living room, with your kids in the room?"

Compaq's Laurie Frick argued that the distinction between TV and PC fare is one that is only made by "the TV generation," of people over 40. The "whole interaction of a 15- or 20-year-old" with the computer is "entirely different," she contended.

But Intel's Aymar dismissed the idea of this kind of difference between the generations. "You've never seen my 18-year-old daughter watching MTV on the couch," he replied.

Errington contended that the "human interface" will make a big difference in the "viewability" of the PC TV. The "navigation shell" for Sony's new "PC TVs" is the first user interface ever to be designed inhouse at Sony, according to the Sony exec.

Available bandwidth will play an important role in what kind of programming can be transmitted to any PC, suggested several of the panelists.

"It's been `the year of ISDN' for the past five years. I think we're stuck with POTS (plain old telephone service)," maintained Aymar of Intel.

POTS transmission will improve in the future, through technologies like compression for video streaming, predicted IBM's Firestone.

"HP is investing in cable modems," acknowledged Webb McKinney of Hewlett-Packard.

"Phone companies are now saying they're going to invest in MMDS," noted Gateway 2000's Jim Collas. "(But) by early 1997, there will be a significant deployment of cable modems."

"We (also) see the possibilities of cable modems. Satellites could also be interesting, as well, especially for downloading from mass storage," reported Sony's Errington.

"(Limited) bandwidth is a problem," Aymar agreed. "You could have a `Net phone' in your kitchen, for ordering groceries, for instance. But you wouldn't browse the Web with it. And if you wanted to (view video), you'd need cable."

Gateway has already developed a network computer, known as Destination, Collas observed. Frick and Firestone acknowledged that Compaq and IBM, respectively, are each looking into the possibilities of "network devices."

"We're not going to say a lot, but we think (the network computer) holds promise," Frick remarked.

IBM is doing "a lot in the labs, and a lot with market research," Firestone told the audience.

But some of the panelists disagreed with the idea that consumers will pay for a network device, especially when "used" fully fledged PCs can be easily purchased for only a couple of hundred dollars.

(Jacqueline Emigh/19960621)